Scottish Executive

Air Services

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources have been or will be made available to assist in the creation of a direct air link from Edinburgh to the USA.

Ms Wendy Alexander: No additional resources are being made available by the Scottish Executive for the establishment of any direct air service between Edinburgh and the USA. However, a meeting was held with VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise on 3 August to agree a package which might secure a Continental Airlines’ service between New York (Newark) and Edinburgh. Negotiations are progressing and a decision is expected from Continental within the next few weeks.

Asylum Seekers

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish social work services will have any involvement in assessing the suitability of Dungavel House as a detention centre.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Home Office is responsible for the immigration detention centre at Dungavel House, Strathaven, under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales will be responsible for inspection. However, the Immigration Service is currently consulting with the host authority, South Lanarkshire and Social Work Services Inspectorate regarding future arrangements.

Environment

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what contribution Scotland will make to the United Kingdom targets to reduce the six-gas basket of greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent below 1990 levels in the period 2008-12 as stated in Scottish Climate Change Programme .

Rhona Brankin: As stated in the Scottish Climate Change Programme  (available on the Executive’s website at www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/environment/ccm.pdf ), the Executive is committed to making an equitable contribution to the UK Kyoto target. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17165 which confirms that separate Scottish targets are not currently practical.

External Affairs

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what job title and salary has been given to the new Scottish Executive appointee to the British Embassy in Washington DC announced on 26 July 2001.

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what job remit has been given to the new Scottish Executive appointee to the British Embassy in Washington DC announced on 26 July 2001.

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive to whom the new Scottish Executive appointee to the British Embassy in Washington DC announced on 26 July 2001 will be directly responsible, both in Scotland and Washington DC.

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the new Scottish Executive appointee to the British Embassy in Washington DC announced on 26 July 2001 will be responsible for facilitating (a) the involvement of MSPs in Tartan Day 2002 and (b) business or cultural contacts between MSPs and US organisations.

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make available a monthly news digest summarising the US press coverage resulting directly from the work undertaken by the new Scottish Executive appointee to the British Embassy in Washington DC announced on 26 July 2001.

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to monitor the success of the new Scottish Executive appointee to the British Embassy in Washington DC announced on 26 July 2001 and what plans there are to provide additional resources and staffing devoted to enhancing Scotland’s profile in the USA.

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what role the new Scottish Executive appointee to the British Embassy in Washington DC announced on 26 July 2001 will have in the organisation and planning of Tartan Day 2002 and what liaison she will have with the Tartan Day committee.

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) research, (b) administrative, (c) media-related and (d) other support will be available to the new Scottish Executive appointee to the British Embassy in Washington DC announced on 26 July 2001.

Mr Jack McConnell: The job title of the Scottish Executive appointee (announced on 26 July 2001) to the British Embassy in Washington DC will be First Secretary (Scottish Affairs). Her salary is within the Scottish Executive Band C2 range £38,000-£53,064.

  The duties of the job will include promoting Scotland; providing information about Scotland; liaising with Scottish agencies working in the USA; outreach to Scottish-American organisations; assisting with the organisation of Scottish Executive sponsored events and visits to the USA and assisting with reciprocal visits by Americans to Scotland, and promoting educational, cultural and other exchanges between Scotland and the USA. The First Secretary (Scottish Affairs) will assist in the Embassy’s involvement on behalf of the Scottish Executive in Tartan Day celebrations and will liaise with the organisers of Tartan Day events in Washington DC and elsewhere in the United States. She will also liaise with Scottish Parliament officials over visits to the USA by MSPs on official Parliamentary business (including Tartan Day 2002).

  The First Secretary (Scottish Affairs) will be part of the external relations division of the Finance and Central Services Department of the Scottish Executive. She will work within the political and public affairs section of the Embassy reporting to the Ambassador on her work on behalf of the Scottish Executive. There are no plans to make a news digest available.

  The value of the post will be assessed after two years. The postholder will be able to utilise the support services of the British Embassy and the Scottish Executive.

Football

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14996 by Allan Wilson on 18 May 2001, how much financial assistance was given to the 2008 European nations football championship feasibility study by Scottish Enterprise, VisitScotland,  sportscotland and UK Sport.

Allan Wilson: The financial assistance given to support the 2008 European nations football championships feasibility study was as follows:

  


Scottish Enterprise 
  

£15,000 
  



sportscotland 
  

£5,000 
  



VisitScotland 
  

£5,000 
  



UK Sport 
  

£5,000

Football

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what transport infrastructure improvements are planned in the event of any bid for the 2008 European nations football championship being successful, outlining the expected cost and timescale of each such project.

Allan Wilson: No transport infrastructure improvements are planned at present. The Executive is presently considering the infrastructure issues raised by the outline stadia proposals for 2008 received by the Scottish Football Association from Scottish football clubs.

Further Education

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking at a national level to advertise to potential students the merits of courses at further education colleges.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive has taken several measures at national level which will have the effect of encouraging take-up of further education. These include the development of an all-age careers service and the establishment of the Scottish University for Industry (SUfI). SUfI, through its learndirect branded services, promotes a range of routes to lifelong learning in the national press and broadcasting media.

  Scotland’s 46 further education colleges are autonomous bodies with a statutory responsibility for meeting local demand needs. These diverse needs are met by offering a large number of courses at different levels, in different modes (full-time and part-time), in a wide range of subjects. It is for colleges to advertise their prospectuses within the communities which they serve.

  Participation data for 1999-2000 shows that there were 434,435 enrolments in further education, in both colleges and higher education institutions, an increase of some 3 per cent over the previous year.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce a national database and standardised procedures for the collection and monitoring of data on infections caused by gram-positive bacteria.

Susan Deacon: Dedicated systems of surveillance (with national databases) are either already in place or are being developed for infections caused by three gram-positive organisms:

  surveillance of MRSA, in line with my announcement of the Executive’s response to the recommendations of the advisory group on infection on 6 August;

  surveillance of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, which has been introduced to monitor the impact of new vaccines;

  enhanced surveillance of Mycobacter tuberculosis, which has been introduced to monitor the emergence of multiple resistance to antibiotics.

Health

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce a fund for befriending and mentoring projects.

Susan Deacon: There are currently no plans to introduce a specific fund for befriending and mentoring projects.

  However, the Executive have funded Volunteer Development Scotland (VDS) to work with NHSScotland to re-energise, enhance and develop the role and contribution that volunteers bring to the delivery of health services. Health boards and NHS Trusts have responded favourably to this work and are actively seeking new opportunities to develop the role of volunteers. Work with primary care providers has demonstrated that the NHS’s concept of volunteering can evolve from its traditional hospital-based service to an integrated service that can support a patient from home to hospital and back to home.

  In addition, and as indicated in the Scottish Health Plan, health boards are now required to develop access to independent advocacy services to support people in making decisions about their own health care.

Hospitals

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients from each hospital in each health board area have been sent to a different hospital for a CT scan during the last year due to the non-availability of a CT scanner through staffing constraints.

Susan Deacon: The information requested is not held centrally.

Hospitals

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute beds there are in the Ayrshire and Arran Health Board area; where these beds are located, and whether there are any plans to alter the number or location of such beds.

Susan Deacon: Information on operational matters, such as acute bed numbers, is available from Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Hospitals

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what risks of spreading disease are associated with the transporting of contaminated clinical waste away from hospitals which do not have on-site incinerators.

Susan Deacon: NHSScotland Trusts must comply with all statutes, standards, legislation and codes of practice in relation to waste management. Accordingly all NHSScotland Trusts have been provided with best practice management guidance to enable them to categorise, risk assess, segregate and operate clinical waste disposal procedures in keeping with the law and regulatory framework as monitored by the Health and Safety Executive and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. This guidance recommends the measures to be taken to control the risks of infection, both within the NHS Trust environment and also where the waste has to be uplifted and transported to off-site disposal facilities.

  These recommended standards ensure the risks of spreading infection or disease are minimal in each step of the disposal process.

Hospitals

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether on-site incinerators will be installed in all hospitals which do not currently have one.

Susan Deacon: Installation of on-site incinerators is a matter for individual NHS Trusts. The information requested is not held centrally.

Housing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority spent on improvement and repair grants for private sector houses in 1999-2000 and 2000-01 and how much each is expected to spend in 2001-02, giving the figures in real terms in each case.

Jackie Baillie: The following table sets out actual expenditure by local authorities on improvement and repairs grants for private sector houses for 1999-2000. Figures are not available for expenditure in 2000-01 or for the local authorities estimated expenditure in 2001-02. Real terms figures can be calculated by applying the Treasury deflators (currently 2.5 per cent) in the normal way.

  


Local authority 
  

Expenditure (£000) 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

1,907 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

388 
  



Angus 
  

506 
  



Argyll and Bute 
  

1,779 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

267 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

621 
  



Dundee City 
  

1,646 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

235 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

150 
  



East Lothian 
  

604 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

151 
  



Edinburgh, City of 
  

2,848 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

3,461 
  



Falkirk 
  

495 
  



Fife 
  

419 
  



Glasgow City 
  

6,932 
  



Highland 
  

4,314 
  



Inverclyde 
  

489 
  



Midlothian 
  

53 
  



Moray 
  

557 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

767 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

1,689 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

1,408 
  



Perth and Kinross 
  

1,083 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

1,879 
  



Scottish BORDERs 
  

947 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

320 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

310 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

3,500 
  



Stirling 
  

776 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

247 
  



West Lothian 
  

429 
  



Scotland 
  

41,177

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the figures of (a) £35 and (b) £63, as originally set by the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 and revised by the Diligence Against Earnings (Variation) (Scotland) Regulations 1995 as the level of net weekly earnings below which no reduction in respect of earnings arrestments may be made, would be currently if they had been updated in line with (i) average earnings and (ii) prices.

Mr Jim Wallace: The threshold below which all earnings are exempt from arrestment is set in relation to benefits. The level of £35 per week initially set out in the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 was approximately half way between the short-term supplementary benefit rate for a single person and that for a couple. The 1995 recalculation on the same basis used income support rates, which took the place of supplementary benefits. At current rates of income support the threshold would be £70 per week. The level of the 1987 and 1995 thresholds if they had been based on (i) average earnings and (ii) prices would be as shown in the following table. The Executive has revised the thresholds as part of its on-going diligence review and intends to propose revisions in due course.

  


 


Average Earnings Index1


Retail Price Index2




£35 
  

£71.09 
  

£58.49 
  



£63 
  

£78.31 
  

£71.96 
  



  Source of indices: Office for National Statistics.

  Notes:

  1. Not seasonally adjusted.

  2. All items.

Licensing

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it selected the members of its liquor licensing review committee.

Mr Jim Wallace: We gave the committee a wide remit (including health and public order as well as licensing law). We therefore tried to secure a committee that combined a broad range of interests with a manageable size. We chose members with immediate expertise of the licensed and drink trades, and the operation of the current licensing arrangements. We chose members to cover public health and clinical medicine, policing, and legal and judicial affairs. We also chose members to represent the voluntary sector, and the interests of young people. The committee will doubtless take representations from a still wider range of individuals.

Licensing

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive on what dates the liquor licensing review committee is scheduled to meet over the next 12 months.

Mr Jim Wallace: I understand that the committee met for the first time on 1 August 2001. It is for the committee to arrange its own programme of work.

Licensing

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what budget has been allocated to cover the costs of the liquor licensing review committee.

Mr Jim Wallace: The members of the committee are giving their time freely, but will receive travel and other reasonable expenses. We are able to meet those costs from within the Justice Department’s existing budget allocation, and will set a precise figure when the committee has agreed its detailed programme of work and any associated visits.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the rate of pay for prisoners in Scottish Prison Service prisons was in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01 and (c) 2001-02 to date.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The weekly rates of pay for prisoners are tabulated below.

  The actual amount paid to each prisoner depends on the type of work and response.

  (a) £3.40-£15.00

  (b) £3.40-£15.00

  (c) £4.80-£18.00

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the rate of pay for prisoners in HM Prison Kilmarnock was in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01 and (c) 2001-02 to date.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS have been advised by Premier Prison Services Ltd that the average weekly wage for prisoners has been approximately:

  


1999-2000 
  

£21 per week 
  



2000-01 
  

£18 per week 
  



2001 to date 
  

£17 per week

Prison Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of prisoners who received drug treatment in the last three years re-offended following release within (a) one month, (b) three months and (c) any period.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  This information is not available. However, SPS has recently estimated that 46% of those released from prison custody return to prison within two years ("Return to Custody in Scottish Prisons", SPS Research and Evaluation Services, 2001). Re-offending not resulting in prison custody is not included in that figure.

Prison Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when new resources will be made available to HM Prison Aberdeen in order to improve drug treatment facilities for inmates and what form these new resources will take.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  HM Prison Aberdeen will benefit from expanded in-prison addictions casework provision from late autumn 2001. Short-term post-release support "throughcare" by SPS will become available offering facilitation support to address their housing, employment, education and training, personal finance and health needs in the period leading up to and for 12 weeks after release.

  Additional addictions nursing support is being introduced this autumn and support from psychologists is also now being made available to the prison to further develop the quality of treatment.

Prison Service

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what restrictions are placed on convicted prisoners communicating by letter or telephone from prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  All prisoners have the right to send and receive mail and to use telephones. That right is subject to the provisions of part 7 of the Prisoners and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 1994 (as amended) which allow a wide range of restrictions to be imposed, primarily in the interests of good order and security and preventing criminal activity. The circumstances in which ordinary letters can be read by prison officers are set out in rule 51. Most of these restrictions apply equally to untried and convicted prisoners. Special provisions apply for legal and court correspondence. Prisoners’ telephone calls can be logged, monitored and recorded under rule 54(2).

Rail Services

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent directions and guidance it has given to the Strategic Rail Authority regarding the east coast main line franchise.

Sarah Boyack: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17492 on 28 August 2001.

Rail Services

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what infrastructure improvements will be made to the rail network between now and May 2003.

Sarah Boyack: Thirteen rail related projects have been supported by the Scottish Executive’s Public Transport Fund, and Freight Facilities Grants have been awarded to eight schemes which involve rail freight. The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has supported Edinburgh Crossrail through the rail passenger partnership fund, which has also contributed to funding for the re-opening of Beauly station.

  On 27 August I announced that the Scottish Executive is taking forward the Larkhall to Milngavie rail route project in partnership with Strathclyde Passenger Transport.

  The SRA’s incremental outputs statement (IOS) programmes will deliver network-wide infrastructure improvements. These include improvements at 40 stations initially throughout Scotland, and track and signalling projects planned in Fife, West Lothian and Ayrshire. Work on site is expected to start during the course of 2002.

Social Work

Kate MacLean (Dundee West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when and how it plans to respond to the report of the certification and registration working group.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has given a commitment that the Social Work Services Inspectorate will undertake an up-to-date assessment of arrangements for certification and registration every year through its annual report.

  The report also makes recommendations for action by local authorities, health boards and Trusts, health professionals and voluntary organisations. The Scottish Executive is consulting on these recommendations and will decide in the light of responses received what action is required to improve arrangements for assessing the needs of people with visual impairment.

Special Educational Needs

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the children enrolled for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local authority area for academic session 2001-02 have a record of needs and what each of these figures represents as a percentage of the total number of pupils in the relevant sector in each area.

Nicol Stephen: The information requested is not available at this time. The annual school census in September 2001 will collect information about school pupils for 2001-02, the results of which will be published in 2002.

Special Educational Needs

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the children enrolled for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local authority area for academic session 2001-02 have special educational needs and what each of these figures represents as a percentage of the total number of pupils in the relevant sector in each area.

Nicol Stephen: The information requested is not available at this time. The annual school census in September 2001 will collect information about school pupils for 2001-02, the results of which will be published in 2002.